Cox & Kings divests education business for Rs. 4,387 crore

Leading travel company, Cox & Kings Limited agrees to sell its education business for Rs. 4,387 crore (GBP 467 million), following which the stock was 5 per cent.

The company has entered an agreement to sell the entire stake in HB Education Limited, UK, held through its subsidiary Holidaybreak Limited to investment firm Midlothian Capital Partners. This deal is in-line with Cox & Kings strategy to monetize parts of its business to reduce debt and focus on asset-light high growth businesses. The deal is expected to close by November 23, 2018

HB Education provides experiential learning programmes for students through residential activity centres and educational tours. The company's consolidated revenue and net-worth is Rs. 1,383.33 crore and Rs. 2,017.05 crore, respectively, comprising 21 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively of the revenue and net worth of Cox & Kings.

Reacting to the news, the stock of Cox & Kings Limited was locked in its upper circuit limit of 5 per cent at Rs. 192.25 per share, up by Rs. 9.15 on Monday. The benchmark index BSE Sensex was also upbeat at 33,596.52, up by 247.21 points or 0.74 per cent.